Jets stomp Leafs with 5-2 road effort
TORONTO, ONT. – On Monday afternoon, the Winnipeg Jets stopped a streak they never wanted in the first place.
Heading into Toronto for a daytime Holiday Classic, the Jets hadn’t beaten the Leafs since Dec. 5, 2021.
But that’s now in the past. Thanks to Mark Scheifele’s hat-trick and two goals and two assists from Kyle Connor, the Jets went into Scotiabank Arena in Toronto and on national TV, whipped the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2. Granted, the Leafs played without their superstar Auston Matthews, but in fairness, injuries have struck the Jets recently, as well.
The Jets, now 25-10-1, lead the league in wins (25) and points (51) and have built a seven-point lead over the second-place Minnesota Wild in the Central Division heading into the Christmas break. They have won two in a row and are 7-2-1 in their last 10 and 7-4-1 in the month of December.
That 15-1 start might not have been the fluke that the rest of the National Hockey League thought it was.
"They don't hand out awards at Christmas, but we're happy to get a couple days off and get recharged and going for the next half of the season," Scheifele said post-game. "I am just very happy with our team and happy to be a part of it."
The first period started quickly. Both teams were ready to play and despite the early 2 p.m. EST start, there were no sluggish legs. Toronto came our quickly, hit the Jets in their own and had outshot Winnipeg 8-2 by the 12-minute mark. However, the visitors kept grinding and took control of the game when Mitch Marner was sent off for hooking at 15:10.
Winnipeg began firing shots at Leafs netminder Joseph Woll and at 16:04 the Jets’ Kyle Connor fired a shot into a wide-open cage. KFC’s perfect opportunity arrived after a shot from the point by Josh Morrissey was deflected by Gabriel Vilardi off of Woll and right onto the stick of Connor. It was Connor’s 20th goal of the year, his ninth on the power play and extended his points-streak to five games. Morrissey, with his team-high 29th assist, and Vilardi got credit for the helpers.
That was the only goal in the first as the Jets outshot the Leafs 11-8.
In the second period, it didn’t take long for the Jets to extend the lead to 2-0. Mark Scheifele picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone, went into the Leafs zone in a two-on-one with Connor, stopped, waited and then placed a perfect pass through the Leafs crease and Connor skillfully tipped it into the empty side at 1:16. It was Connor’s 21st goal and Scheifele’s 21st assist.
However, things changed quickly when Mason Appleton was charged with a double-minor for high-sticking (which should have been a holding call against the Leafs, but hey, this is the NHL). The Leafs’ John Tavares scored his 16th of the season at 5:25 to make it 2-1, but the Jets cut their losses at one goal, which was a credit to the penalty killing unit.
At that point, both teams settled into what was becoming a nice hockey game. Lots of skating, plenty of good plays, some solid chances and yet very few shots. Toronto outshot the Jets 10-7, but neither team dominated the period.
However, on the downside, with a minute to go in the period, Jets defenceman Haydn Fleury turned awkwardly on his right knee while fighting for the puck in the corner and could barely get up. Despite pressure from the Leafs, Fleury eventually got up and tried to play defensively but could barely stand. At the whistle, he was helped to the bench but did not return.
Head coach Scott Arniel said it may not be as bad as it looked and Fleury would be considered day-to-day moving forward.
Early in the third-period, the Jets made it 3-1 on one of the most beautiful plays of the season. Just inside the Leafs blueline, Gabriel Vilardi made a tremendous play to knock down a bouncing puck and get it on to his backhand. With a Leafs defenceman all over him, Vilardi whipped a backhand pass through Woll’s crease onto the stick of a streaking Mark Scheifele who tipped it into the open side of the net. It was a brilliant goal, Scheifele’s 19th of the year, and gave the Jets a 3-1 lead at 3:27. Vilardi and Connor drew the assists.
At 9:01, Dylan DeMelo picked up a delay of game penalty and just a few seconds later the Jets had a two-on-one and with a wide-open net, Alex Iafallo hit Woll’s mask and then the crossbar behind the Leafs netminder.
Then, just moments after the Jets killed the penalty, they made it 4-1 when Josh Morrissey and Scheifele came out of the Jets zone with numbers. Morrissey hit Scheifele with a perfect pass, but Woll played Scheifele’s deke effort perfectly. However, Woll never got possession of the puck and as it lay on the goal line, Scheifele jammed it in at 11:57. It was Scheifele’s 20th goal of the year as Morrissey drew his 30th assist.
The Leafs came back at 13:42 as John Tavares scored his second of the game and 17th of the year with a beautiful wrist shot to make it 4-2. That made for some exciting moments in the final six minutes, but the Leafs couldn’t muster a goal and the Jets got an empty netter at 19:39 as Scheifele finished the game with the 10th hat-trick of his career and his second this season.
Connor picked up his second assist of the afternoon and finished with two goals and two assists while Scheifele had three goals and an assist. Connor now has 21 goals and 26 assists for 47 points, seventh in the NHL while Scheifele has 21 goals and 21 assists, 14th in the league in scoring.
"It's a team effort," Connor said. "Top to bottom, we need everybody in this group. The PK was good, we gave up the one, but overall, I thought it gave us some momentum. Power play, everyone chips in. I think our ability to roll all of our lines and still be hungry and not be satisfied with anything. We also have been able to take a day-to-day approach, learning what we can improve on - wins and losses - we have done a great job implementing the adjustments that we need to."
Each team had seven shots in the third period and each team had 25 shots for the game. Scheifele, Connor and Tavares were the three stars.
The Jets immediately returned home to start the Holiday break. They will return to action on Saturday, Dec. 28 at 6 p.m. at Canada Life Centre when the Ottawa Senators come to town.
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